Winter Wardrobe

Lately, I have been contemplating Christmas and all that goes with it. I'm thinking about putting my tree up, and I am already decorating it in my head...getting every ornament in its exactly-right-place. I'm wondering how many more gifts I need to knit before December 25th. I'm drooling over the cookies and candy I will eat create...so much to think about! You know what else I've got floating around up there in my brain? A little conversation I had last year...it went like this:

Mork: Mom, I need an ugly Christmas sweater by tomorrow. Can you knit one?
Me: I will not knit an UGLY sweater (on purpose).
Dollface: What about all those ones in your closet, Mom?
Me: ???
Mork: Well, or like that one you're wearing?
Ba-dum-bump, Ching!

Forgive me if you've heard that already, but it IS still pretty funny! For the record, I did not knit him a sweater, ugly or otherwise. Also for the record, I have not disowned either of them. And just so you know, I am currently re-thinking my winter wardrobe, wondering how many of my festive frocks are, in reality, ugly Christmas Sweaters...sigh!

What do you think? Do they all go? I mean, I love the cheesy sweaters and sweatshirts...yes, I do. I'm keeping them. After all, everything eventually comes around to become fashionable again, right? Eventually? Right?!?

In any case, there will be knitting. I think I even have a sweater's worth of red in my stash, so perhaps I will knit myself a little something more subtle, but still festive. :) But, and I cannot stress this enough, I will never knit an UGLY sweater (on purpose)! Of course, I have knit one or two accidentally, but let's not dwell on that.

Do you have any Christmas Sweater Stories that you'd be willing to share? If your answer is no, maybe it's time for you to start knitting! lol! I crack me up!

Whatever you are knitting this holiday season, I hope that you will Knit in Good Health!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just a quickie, as I watch the parade...
From our Pretty house to yours -

Hand and Foot Disease

The day before Thanksgiving, in my house at least, has always been designated "Bread and Pie Day," because it is the day I traditionally bake the bread and pies (and cookies) for our feast! This year, we will be feasting with the family a day late, and I am glad...

You see, just in time for Thanksgiving this year, it seems that I have caught a little case of Hand and Foot Disease! Please don't be alarmed by that...I promise it's not contagious. Well, if you're a knitter, I suppose it might be, but I really don't think it is. Even if it is a little bit "catchy," it's not all that bad. The very worst symptom is that all I to do is knit and play with things for the hands and feet! For instance, there are the gloves that Peanut put her request in for last week, now finished and ready to be on their merry way to her chilly fingers:

And then there's the second pair that I've already started, because a girl can never have too many pairs of gloves, right?!?

I've also recently finished this pair of fingerless gloves for me, and they are so very fuzzy and lovely in purple and alpaca...

Then there are the extra mittens for Peanut's advent calendar:

Too small for anyone's hands, but so cute when stuffed with a sticker, a hair bow and a chap stick! Look! Black cat wonders if they are mittens for her! Haha! Silly kitty!

But, with all those mittens and gloves, let's not forget the feet...and all those Darned Socks!

Can you see that? At the bottom, on the heel? This is just one of the three pair of hand-knit socks that I have actually darned in the last two weeks...it's crazy, I tell ya! I only have photo proof of that one, tho...the yarn doesn't match, so it's easy to see where it has been darned. If I'm going to do all that work to fix a heel, I certainly want you to be able to see it in the pictures!!!

So, on this Thanksgiving Eve, I am feeling very thankful and accomplished in my yarny endeavors. :) Now all I have to do is stay busy until it's time to take turkey to the table...I know that I am up for that challenge! I love holiday meals, and this year we get to spend time with all of us together: Sweetie and I, Snake and Dollface, Mork and Mindy, and Peanut! It's gonna be a blast!

Thanks for stopping by on this "Bread and Pie Day!" I hope that your holiday goes off without a hitch! And, if you're a knitter like me, I hope that you find time to Knit in Good Health this weekend!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Heard at Knitting...

There are always funny things to hear at knitting. Last Thursday's gem was this: "Well, bring us something that smells like him at least!"

Before you go THERE, that sentiment was uttered by a Nana who had just cuddled the newest baby in the group (not quite 2 months old), and she wanted just one more sniff of that sweet baby head. His mother promised to bring in the latest batch of dirty diapers and spit-up rags, and I am currently thinking about skipping knitting next week (lol!), but I know what that Nana meant, and I have to admit that I can echo that sentiment. There is nothing so sweet as the smell of a brand-spankin'-new human being...especially to a grandma!

You know what else I heard at knitting on Thursday? My text alert. There was a text from Peanut and her mommy, almost as sweet as that baby. It seems that Peanut got her gloves wet that day, and her mommy presented a pair of hand-knit-by-Gramma mittens for those chilly hands. Peanut wasn't having any of that, however. She likes "mittens like this!," (in other words, gloves). 

She said, "Gramma can knit me gloves. Gramma knits." So, you know what? 

Of course I am. I had her mommy trace her hand for measurements, and I found a pattern, and there you have it! I am knitting my first pair of Peanut-sized gloves in the softest yarn I have on hand...Debbie Bliss Cashmerino...yummm!

Hopefully they will be done before it gets any colder at her house! I think I am up for the challenge... (wink!) ...but only if I get back to it, so I'll just sign off here. :) Thanks for stopping by!

Are you knitting anything challenging this week? 

Itchy, Twitchy, Knit-along Fingers

The gals in my local Ravelry group have decided on a January knit-along. A colorwork sweater pattern, the Plum Frost Pullover & Cardigan is the sweater we will knit. Well, about half-a-dozen of us will be knitting Plum Frost...we were sucked in by the lovely, fair-isle knitting in multiple colors, and also by the steeking. 

Pictured is a version of the Plum Frost knitted by
Joyrider1978 on Ravlery. Isn't is lovely?

For those of you who don't know what steeking is, here's the short explanation: For ease of knitting, so you don't have to work purl rows on the back-side of your cardigan pieces, you knit the entire piece in the round. Around, and around, and around you knit, using two (or more) colors, until the sweater is finished. When the knitting is done, you bind off and you have a lovely pullover. Of course, if you want your sweater to be a button-up cardigan, you still have one final step.

Hold on to your hats.

You get out your very-sharp scissors, and carefully snip all that detailed color work in half, then add button bands. Yes. That's right. You cut it apart. o_O

It can be a daunting task, but I've been told that if you have knit your sweater with a "grabby," wool yarn, it's really not that big a deal. That's what I've been told. But I've never done it myself. Still, I've signed myself up, and I've already bought the yarn...

...so, I am all in on this one. I am still struggling with one aspect of this knit-along, however. I'M NOT SURE I CAN WAIT UNTIL JANUARY!!! lol! 

I am also struggling (a bit) with the steeking. I love the look of a cardigan as much as the next knitter, and I am sure that I am up for the challenge of steeking, but I often end up sewing my cardis closed to solve "gaping" issues...and the more I think about it, I am not sure that I can cut this knitting, then knit button-bands and sew on buttons, if there is even a chance that I will think about sewing the thing closed later! =/ So, right now at least, it's looking like I'll be knitting a pullover.

Have you ever steeked? How did it turn out? Did you end up sewing your cardigan closed, and how did that make you feel? lol! I'll keep you posted as I change my mind, over and over again, and then as I Knit-Along with my group!

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!